Tales from Space: Mutant Blobs Attack

Mutant Blobs Attack is another one of those cutesy platformer games that features a (usually) unlikely character in a (usually) absurd situation: here, you're a mutant blob from space, and your goal is basically to eat everything. Mutant Blobs Attack is notable for being one of the first well-received games for the Vita; the last game (About a Blob) was exclusive to the PlayStation 3.

This game does not concern itself with a plot, disguising dialogue (say, from a news program) in a semi-guttural speech usually reserved for adults in Charlie Brown, and the progression of stages – from a college campus, to a town, to the moon, and back – makes very little sense, even in the context of the game. But, really, those stages are just means to an end as the puzzles are the main attraction in this type of game.

Thankfully, the graphics have scaled up really nicely from the Vita version: the levels themselves are crisp and sharp and colors are appropriately vibrant when necessary. (Most of the background is deliberately washed out for artistic effect.) Even the soundtrack is catchy and cute, sounding like something ripped from a 50s sci-fi film. If there's a problem with Mutant Blobs Attack (and, unfortunately, there is), it isn't that the game looks or sounds ugly, because it doesn't.

No, the problem with Mutant Blobs is that the game is ten percent puzzle-solving, thirty percent enjoyable, and sixty percent frustrating. The platforming elements, for the most part, are easy: it's just crawling around, wall jumping, and using powers and abilities to traverse the environment. The frustration, however, comes from the arbitrary and judicious use of moving lasers that force you to rush. These segments make levels arbitrarily difficult. It isn't even necessarily challenging, per se: it's simply difficult because of how inaccurate and, frankly, unenjoyable the game's controls controls are.

And these awfully inexact controls are by far the biggest problem that plagues Mutant Blobs Attack. For example, take green bars: these pieces can be moved along a track using the right thumbstick. When you try to be gentle and nudge the thumbstick for precise aiming, the block doesn't move at all; you go to nudge it a little bit more in the same direction, however, and the piece goes flying way past where you intended to place it. There are numerous segments in which excruciating precision is necessary to pass the puzzle: yet the game's controls just do not allow for it.

When you're close to one of those moveable objects, you'll automatically "connect" to it. You can switch to controlling other green, movable objects by hitting the left or right bumper buttons. Unfortunately, this is another area in which practicality was overlooked in the developer's attempt to port from a touchscreen to a controller: sometimes, "switching" brings you to the same object you were already controlling. At best, that would be a minor nuisance, but, again, precision and timing are often required by the puzzles.

It's a shame, really: what could have been a cute, well-crafted platformer for home consoles ended up being a poorly-made port of a (much better) Vita game. Even though it looks good and the story is likeably bizarre, DrinkBox simply did not plan Mutant Blobs Attack around the limitations of a controller.

James Graham

I don't think I ever won a single fight in Soulcalibur II. Thankfully, I'm marginally better at reviewing than I am at fighting games.

Mercury Hg

Completing each level in the fastest time or with the highest score will keep some playing this game for a good long time while trying to figure out what path is the fastest or most efficient. It's cheap, it looks good, and it plays well, if you've got $5 and a few hours to kill you really can't go wrong with Mercury Hg.

Bastion

Made by only a handful of people but featuring the polish of a AAA title, a great story and unique features like a dynamic narrator, Bastion is simply a fantastic game. If you have not picked it up yet, you owe it to yourself to experience what is possibly this year’s best downloadable title.

Cloudberry Kingdom

While I certainly applaud the work done on Cloudberry Kingdom's engine, it has one big flaw: computers don't understand what fun is. You can have a computer make a level, but it'll just be following parameters. To really achieve something entertaining, there has to be more of the creator in it, or more interesting gameplay on top of a neat algorithm. By divorcing themselves so much from the experience, Pwnee Studios allows their game to suffer from not being able to judge whether a level is actually fun, making it come off pointless, shallow and uninteresting.

Mutant Mudds

At the end of the day, Mutant Mudds is a great tribute to the platformers many of us grew up with. The art style is well done and the difficulty is spot on - it literally feels like it could have been made 20 years ago. The only problem is that games have changed a great deal since then and Mutant Mudds is left feeling stale and boring. If you’re looking to play a platformer the feels harkens back to your childhood, then look no further than Mutant Mudds; otherwise you’re probably better off playing something else.

Constant C

Constant C are is a game that is too difficult for its own good. It has little to no room for error, especially near the end. Lacking a tutorial system forces the player to figure everything out on his or her own. It started off very fun with just the right level of challenge. As more is introduced it quickly became overwhelming. The story being tied to collectible items was faulty. It forced you to become a perfectionist just to learn what happens next. It turned from, what I thought was, an interesting take on the platformer genre into a forgettable game that had quickly become too hard.